How AI is changing customer experience and what it means for businesses
AI is redefining how businesses engage with their customers, making interactions faster, smarter, and more automated. But as companies embrace these efficiencies, are they considering the impact on human expertise?
In this episode of CX Minutes, Joanna Carr, customer experience consultant at Allegro and host of ThCXPod, shares her perspective on how AI is transforming customer experience. As automation takes over more tasks, how do we ensure that customer experience remains meaningful and customer-centric?
CX Minutes with Joanna Carr, Allegro & The CX Pod and our host Sabina Persson, Custellence.
What Joanna Carr shares in this episode
AI is changing CX, but are businesses keeping up?
AI is now a core part of customer experience, streamlining processes and enabling businesses to respond faster to customer needs. But according to Joanna Carr, companies may be overlooking a critical issue: the role of human expertise in AI-driven CX.
“This landscape is changing rapidly with the introduction of AI,” she explains. “Of course, AI itself isn’t being overlooked, but what I think we’re missing is its impact on people—their ability to train, develop, and evolve in delivering great customer experiences.”
As AI handles more routine interactions, businesses must ensure their teams continue developing essential CX skills like empathy, communication, and problem-solving. Without these, CX could become transactional rather than relational, affecting customer loyalty.
Related: How Employee Experience Drives CX Success – CX Minutes with Gül Heper-Jämterud
AI as a CX assistant, not a replacement
One of the most significant changes in CX today is how employees are using AI—not just as a tool, but as a partner that assists in decision-making and efficiency.
This shift requires businesses to rethink how they integrate AI into workflows, training, and strategy. Instead of replacing human roles, AI should be positioned as a supportive force that enhances customer experience while keeping interactions human-centered.
Further reading: Humans With AI Will Replace Humans Without AI (Harvard Business Review)
The role of predictive analytics in proactive CX
AI is shifting customer experience from reactive problem-solving to a proactive engagement model, where businesses can anticipate customer needs before they aris
Predictive analytics is helping companies:
- Identify potential issues before they become problems
- Deliver highly personalized experiences at scale
- Enhance automation while maintaining a human touch
For businesses, the challenge is finding the right balance—using AI’s predictive power without losing the empathy and emotional intelligence that define exceptional CX.
Related: Philip Kerr on The Impact of Aligning Sales and Marketing Teams – CX Minutes
Why CX is becoming a business-wide strategy
For years, CX was seen as a function owned by customer service or marketing teams. But Joanna believes that’s changing, with more companies embedding CX across all areas of the business.
“We’ve been trying to get this message across for a long time,” she says. “But now, we’re seeing companies embedding customer experience—it’s not just something they ‘do’ anymore, it’s becoming a core part of business operations.”
This shift means CX is no longer just a competitive advantage—it’s becoming a fundamental part of how successful businesses operate.
Further reading: Why Customer Centricity Is A Key To Long-Term Success (Forbes)
The importance of continuous learning in an AI-driven CX world
With AI rapidly evolving, Joanna highlights one skill as critical for CX professionals: continuous learning.
She encourages CX professionals to:
- Follow industry leaders to stay informed on emerging trends
- Join CX communities and networks to exchange insights
- Engage in real-world discussions and case studies
- Be proactive in understanding AI’s evolving role in CX
CX professionals who embrace AI while staying adaptable and informed will be best positioned to lead the future of customer experience.
Key takeaways from Joanna Carr on AI in CX
- AI is transforming customer experience, but businesses must balance automation with human expertise.
- AI should act as a CX partner, supporting employees rather than replacing human skills.
- Predictive analytics is enabling businesses to be more proactive in CX, anticipating customer needs before they arise.
- CX is shifting from being a department to a business-wide strategy, requiring full integration into company operations.
- Continuous learning is the key to staying competitive as AI evolves.
👉 Want to dive deeper? Watch the full CX Minutes episode with Joanna Carr here.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
How is AI improving customer experience?
AI is improving customer experience by automating responses, predicting customer needs, and enabling hyper-personalized interactions. However, businesses must ensure they maintain human oversight and empathy.
Can AI replace customer experience professionals?
No, AI should be seen as a tool to enhance CX, not replace professionals. Human skills like emotional intelligence, creativity, and relationship-building remain essential in delivering meaningful customer experiences.
What is the biggest challenge AI brings to CX?
The biggest challenge is ensuring AI is used responsibly—balancing automation with human connection, maintaining trust, and ensuring AI-driven experiences feel genuine and personal.
Final thoughts
AI is changing customer experience in fundamental ways, helping businesses streamline operations, improve personalization, and anticipate customer needs. But as Joanna Carr points out, the challenge isn’t just about adopting AI—it’s about ensuring that human expertise remains at the core of CX.
Businesses that strike the right balance between AI-driven automation and human-led strategy will be the ones that deliver meaningful, customer-first experiences in the future.
Transcript
Intro
0:08 Sabina Persson, Custellence: Hi I’m Sabina Persson from Custellence and you’re so welcome to this CX minutes. The videocast is six questions, six minutes and it’s all about customer experience.
Now CX minutes is a series of episodes where we will bring you actionable insights, practical knowhow and personal stories from top professionals, and all in just six minutes, that’s the ambition.
Welcome Joanna
0:38 Sabina: And joining me today is Joanna Carr, from Allegro. You are so very welcome Joanna, thank you for being here.
0:45 Joanna: Thank you Sabina it’s absolutely great to be here, and lovely to see you again, because what the listeners might not know is, we did a webinar together last year. So it’s great to be invited as a guest, and to have the chance to talk with you. And I love this format!
1:04 Sabina: That’s good, that’s great, me too! It’s like quick and dirty in a way. So before we jump into the questions, do you just want to share with me, you know short who you are and and what you do?
Who are you and what do you do?
1:18 Joanna: Absolutely! So I work today as a customer experience consultant for Allegro communication. I’ve been doing that for just over four and a half years, which the time has just flown.
And that basically means that I get to work with all kinds of companies. Whether it is starting their customer experience program or navigating their digital customer Journey.
And I try to be a sharer, I try to share and contribute as much as possible to the customer experience and community.
1:54 Sabina: And you sure do, that’s for sure.
What’s one overlooked CX trend, that you think people should pay more attention to right now?
2:00 Sabina: All right let’s let’s jump into the questions, you’ve chosen the future of CX, so that’s what we’re going to talk about. So first of all, what’s one overlooked CX trend that you think people should pay more attention to?
2:16 Joanna: One overlooked CX trend I believe we should be paying more attention to is the fact that. Well this landscape is hugely changing at the moment because of the introduction of AI. Of course it’s not AI as such, that is being overlooked. What I think is being overlooked is the effect that it is having on humans having the ability to train and develop and evolve themselves in great customer experience and communication.
Because we are actually giving more. More and more, we are giving responsibility to automation and to AI, and I think that is a trend we’re really overlooking. Is ensuring that our people remain with the level of competency that we need, to deliver great customer experiences.
3:23 Sabina: Got it, now that’s a really that’s, I totally agree on that. It’s huge, what your talking of we could talk you know, an hour just on that.
How do you see AI shaping the future of customer experience?
3:30 Sabina: But that actually brides us to the next question. How do you see then, the AI shaping the future of customer experience? You’ve touched it already a little.
3:44 Joanna: I mean it’s hugely shaping. We’re doing a project ourselves within the world of the bureau communication bureau. Because this is one area where you see that AI is taking over hugely, within design, text even coding. All of these different responsibilities that we do within the bureau.
And what I see, I’ve just completed a qualitative research with all of our employees. And what I see is that most people are using now AI as their own personal assistant.
4:23 Sabina: I can relate to that.
4:32 Joanna: So I think this is how the change. I expect we are definitely going to see that. Everything, and this is also what I’m worried about. Us losing our competencies because everything that we sort of have to reflect a little bit more over, we are using a our AI virtual agent to help us do the job. And while it’s an amazing asset, it’s saving so much time it’s helping so much with ideation. It’s also this agentic AI.
I think this is going to be a huge trend, that we are going to have agents as, what you call it partners to serve our customers. But also as partners to serve our internal employees with all their queries.
So AI it’s change so much. We see that contact centers, more and more is being dealt by artificial chat, bots. And of course within predictive analytics, and that is an amazing area that we will definitely see within, understanding and customer journeys. Instead of being reactive, that we will be able to in a greater deal be more predictive as the future goes on.
How do you see the role of CX evolving in organizations?
5:58 Sabina: And that brings me to, sorry I’m on the clock. But speaking of you know the role of CX. How do you see that evolving in the future as well, or in organizations?
6:15 Joanna: Last year in October I actually held a panel discussion about this at the International Customer Experience Awards. And one of the questions was, how how do we see the future of customer experience. And I think a unanimous consideration is that customer experience is going to be harmonized within the way we operate our businesses. And I think this is something we have been.
Consultants like myself or thought leaders or whoever. We’ve been trying to get this message across for so long. But we see that this is changing now, we see that companies are in fact now embedding customer experience, they’re not just doing customer experience. They’re being customer centric.
Which that you need to embed this into all of your operations. From everything to employee experience, to logistics, to marketing of course. All of the different sectors or pillars within the organization, that customer experience is now going to be operationalized in a much greater manner, than it has been.
So I think we’ve gone other days where we’re still confusing customer experience with customer service. Although I’m sure there’s many saying, we’re still struggling with that. But the future is more about actually embedding customer experience management into the operations, within the organization.
8:01 Sabina: I think you’re absolutely right in that one, and hallelujah for that, absolutely. It’s not a day, I mean, we’ve been waiting for this.
What’s one thing about CX that will look completely different in 10 years?
8:07 Sabina: So, what’s one thing about CX that you think will look completely different in 10 years? It seems like we’ve touched upon it but I’ll let you answer that as well.
8:21 Joanna: Completely different. Am I allowed to say what I hope?
8:28 Sabina: Oh yeah, yes this is your time.
8:31 Joanna: Well I certainly hope that customer experience will be a major part of education, MBA’s, all business management education, human resources. That this will actually be a whole pensum or segment of the curriculum. Which will then in turn, create what I was talking about with the operationalizing customer experience.
It’s not the cool thing or the differentiator thing, it’s the way we do business.
9:14 Sabina: Oh wow, that would be so cool. Yes that would be amazing.
9:17 Joanna: So that’s what I hope for. And I see that we are in fact going in that direction. Let’s keep our fingers crossed Sabina.
9:25 Sabina: That’s amazing. Fingers crossed.
If you we’re to give one piece of advice, what would that be?
9:28 Sabina: And finally, what is one piece of advice, I mean based on what we talked about here you know, future of CX. What is one piece of advice that you’d like to share with everyone who’s listening and watching.
9:50 Joanna: Continuous learning.
9:52 Sabina: Ah beautiful, that is beautiful.
9:55 Joanna: Continuous learning. Join networks, there’s so many great places you can be a continuous learner today. Whether it’s either, just by following people on LinkedIn who share and write. Whether it’s being part of a community.
There’s so many great communities out there in customer experience. Joining the awards such as like the International customer experience. Because it’s all of these places, that you will have the ability to continuously learn, evolve, share. And and that’s the only way that we, things are going so quickly. So I think, I love that quote that, “It’s not AI for example that’s going to take our jobs, but it’s more the people who know how to collaborate and use AI will”.
And, that is the one piece of advice. Continuous learning. And you’ve got to be proactive yourself, that’s up to each and every individual.
Wrap up
10:59 Sabina: Very good advice, and I mean this is so short and sweet. And that was all that we had for today with you Joanna Carr. Thank you so much for being on the show, and for you know sharing all these great insights and your thoughts with us.
11:20 Joanna: Thank you so much Sabina and thank you to all your listeners.
11:31 Sabina: And that is a wrap! And looking forward to seeing you next time, bye!
Check out other episodes of CX Minutes here.
By Tove Lundell
